I'm in a band, playing on stage with B, an Elvis impersonator. My guitar strap is loose. I take off my white Strat and put it on B as I continue to play the song, a rocker, while he stands there wearing it. As the audience cheers and applauds, I grab B's hair and make him take some bows.

Singer / songwriter Chris Smither grew up and learned his three first chords in New Orleans, but he’s made his home and the bulk of his music in Boston. Mel Minter chats with Smither about Zen, baseball, blues and existential strategy in this week’s issue. Read all about it here.

See and hear Smither conjure those ol’ cosmic blues at Outpost Performance Space on Saturday night. The show starts at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are $25-30.

Local blues rock guitar hero Ryan McGarvey—who's shared stages with legends of the genre and toured Europe multiple times in the past year—revels in the release of his second album, Redefined, at Santa Fe Sol (37 Fire Place, Santa Fe) tonight at 8 p.m. Go to the show—admission only $10—so you can say you saw the globe-trotting musician before he was super famous.

What can you do at the folk festival? Almost everything. (Within limits, people. Keep your pants on.) The aforementioned question is posed at the top of the online “festival overview,” and underneath is a long list of answers, like sing, dance, learn an instrument, perform for an audience, hear live music and bring your kids. The Alibi breaks down some of the weekend’s highlights.

The last time Tommy was in town Craig Rivera from the City grabbed me to watch his sound check. It was truly astonishing. I’d never heard of him, so Craig (being a guitar whiz himself) wanted me to see what I’d been missing.

Here he is playing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Check out all the crazy false harmonic chords he does at the beginning.

Tommy Emmanuel plays tonight at the Kimo from 7:30 to 10pm. Tickets are available at the door.